Incidence and mortality of female breast cancer in the AsiaPacific region

Objective:ToprovideanoverviewoftheincidenceandmortalityoffemalebreastcancerforcountriesintheAsia-Pacificregion.Methods:Statisticalinformationaboutbreastcancerwasobtainedfrompubliclyavailablecancerregistryandmortalitydatabases(suchasGLOBOCAN),andsupplementedwithdatarequestedfromindividualcancerregistries.Ratesweredirectlyage-standardisedtotheSegiWorldStandardpopulationandtrendswereanalysedusingjoinpointmodels.Results:Breastcancerwasthemostcommontypeofcanceramongfemalesintheregion,accountingfor18%ofallcasesin2012,andwasthefourthmostcommoncauseofcancer-relateddeaths(9%).AlthoughincidenceratesremainmuchhigherinNewZealandandAustralia,rapidrisesinrecentyearswereobservedinseveralAsiancountries.Largeincreasesinbreastcancermortalityratesalsooccurredinmanyareas,particularlyMalaysiaandThailand,incontrasttostabilisingtrendsinHongKongandSingapore,whiledecreaseshavebeenrecordedinAustraliaandNewZealand.Mortalitytrendstendedtobemorefavourableforwomenagedunder50comparedtothosewhowere50yearsorolder.Conclusion:ItisanticipatedthatincidenceratesofbreastcancerindevelopingcountriesthroughouttheAsia-Pacificregionwillcontinuetoincrease.Earlydetectionandaccesstooptimaltreatmentarethekeystoreducingbreastcancerrelatedmortality,butculturalandeconomicobstaclespersist.Consequently,thechallengeistocustomisebreastcancercontrolinitiativestotheparticularneedsofeachcountrytoensurethebestpossibleoutcomes.